13NFL1-Compulsory Voting Page 55 of 163 www.victorybriefs.com COUNTRIES SWITZERLAND SCHAFFHAUSEN HAS AN EFFICIENT SYSTEM OF COMPULSORY VOTING. Anthoula Malkopoulou postdoctoral researcher at the Finnish Academy Project, "Lost Voters Participation in EU elections and the case for compulsory voting, Centre for European Policy Studies Working Document No. July 2009. The system seems to work better in the Swiss canton of Schaffhausen, which combines very low fines with an extensive list of acceptable reasons for no-show at the polls (Electoral Law, 1904). These include seniority (over 65 years) and absence due to a) military or civil service b) professional or family grounds c) illness d) serious illness of a close relative e) an eight-day period of mourning and f) holidays. In addition, the small German-speaking region of 74,000 inhabitants uses an almost automatic system to followup nonvoters. It applies minimum fines of CHF3 (approx. €2) with a system of distribution that does not involve too many staff resources after elections, police officers visit residences and recollect each citizen’s voter card, on which is marked who has voted and who has not.
